The Israeli cabinet did not give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant authority to decide on the response, though Channel 12 suggested “it is possible that the authorization will be done by telephone if necessary.”
Gallant may also further postpone his plans to travel to the US to meet with his counterpart Lloyd Austin, as Netanyahu apparently insists that he stays to help make “final decisions in the cabinet on the nature and timing of the response.”
Gallant was originally expected to meet Austin earlier this week, but had to scrap those plans due to Netanyahu’s insistence that he attend a Thursday night cabinet meeting.
According to Tel Aviv-based international relations expert Dr. Simon Tsipis, Netanyahu is afraid Gallant may be plotting against him and used the cabinet meeting as an excuse to keep the defense minister at home – and not plotting against the PM abroad.
"Netanyahu is paranoid, he has a king syndrome, a god complex,” says Tsipis. “He constantly fears that someone might overthrow or supplant him.”